97-year-old Finds Quality of Life on Hospice 

In hospice care we often say it's about how you live.  Indeed, this care, given to those with a life-altering diagnosis provides patients with the best quality of life possible as it addresses their pain and anxiety, and other symptoms associated with their illness. 

Norma Johnson is adored by her large family of children, grands, and great grandchildren. At 97 years young, the Johnson family matriarch is the "strongest woman and greatest mom/nana/nan!  We are blessed to have her." said her daughter, Carolyn Johnson Peterson, with a loving smile and a slight tear welling up. 

No one can say how long Norma will be here, but she is on hospice care with Angelic Health Hospice. This will be her third time on service.  "We almost lost her a few times" recalled Peterson, but after being at home surrounded by family and the great nurses, aides and staff from Angelic, my mom made an incredible rebound and was discharged from hospice." 

Indeed, patients in hospice can come on and off hospice as it is not uncommon for their conditions to improve due to the focused care from nursing, home health aides, social workers, spiritual support and therapies like music and massage, and engaging visits with volunteers. 

"I can honestly say, along with our family, my mom's live-in caregivers, and our entire team, it has helped keep my mother alive. She truly looks forward to the visits of the Angelic team," said Peterson adding that her mother sees the staff as friends. "Her entire face lights up when she sees each of them." 

"Miss Norma is such a special lady," explained Shalini Basu, a social worker with Angelic Health. "We all adore her.  She shows such spirit and joy, appreciation for what she has, and love. Even with her life-limiting prognosis her zeal for life teaches us to live each day fully. These are the life lessons we learn from our patients."    

Norma is a dedicated Eagles fan, but the love of the game and the team was not something that came naturally to her.  It was an excitement she inherited from her children and grandchildren. "She's a big fan because we are all big fans" explained daughter Carolyn with a chuckle. "She is a good sport!" To show her team spirit she sings the Eagles fight song-- Fly Eagles Fly which is also part of her music therapy session from Angelic Health's Music Therapist Karen Melita.  It's a visit she looks forward to and so does Karen. In fact, all the staff who visit Norma look forward to seeing her. 

“What a joy it is to visit with Mrs. Johnson.  Her personality and sense of humor really come out in music therapy, and I love to hear her reminisce about going to concerts at the Steel Pier," said Melita who has been providing music therapy with Norma since last year. 

An active, healthy-living and life loving woman, Norma Nugent Johnson grew up in Northfield, New Jersey on Nugent Terrace where she lived in a two-bedroom home with her parents, a grandmother and six siblings. They, like most people back then, didn't have much money, no indoor plumbing and relied on an outhouse. “Life was hard back then, but the love of my mother’s family and their hard work was instrumental in helping my mother to be a very strong and courageous woman. My mother’s stories of growing up in Northfield are priceless.” said Carolyn.

"My mom had open-heart surgery at the age of 65, " said Peterson "I remember at the time, her asking the physician how long the double bypass would last and him saying ten years. That nor anything else in my mom's life stopped her. She ate healthy, and we say she invented the low-fat diet before it was even a thing!" Norma walked and/or exercised every day and went to the gym five days a week up until Covid. She lived independently until three years ago. My mother was a stay-at-home mom until I started school and then she returned to the work force. She worked until she was about 70 years old and only retired because her my father became sick, and she needed to care for him. She also volunteered for about 30 years with the Northfield Mothers' League all this while raising four children.

"My mom is very family oriented and loves spending time with her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and a big extended family. She has always been very social too. Up until Covid, she would get together with her high school friends and gym rats. My uncle called her Never Home Norma!" recalls Peterson. 

In a twist of irony and fate, Norma's daughter Carolyn was so impressed with the quality-of-care Angelic Health provided to her mother that she joined the staff as a community liaison, and she now helps other patients receive the end-of-life care they deserve and support for their families. She's been there. She knows. 

97-year-old Finds Quality of Life on Hospice

Angelic Health provides comprehensive hospice care services to patients, and professional support to their families. Our hospice is proud to be endorsed by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), which reflects the agency's dedication and commitment to meeting the standards that demonstrate a higher level of performance and patient care. Angelic Health Hospice satisfaction scores are well above the national and state average. 

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